SAN BERNARDINO >> Santa Claus has changed his plans, and people aren’t happy.

After more than a half-century of escorting Santa around the city, police say the annual Ho Ho Parade will be canceled in favor of a two-night holiday celebration at Court Street Square next to City Hall.

The cost in a bankrupt city and safety concerns were hard to overcome, said San Bernardino police Lt. Paul Williams.

“With all these concerns that have come up, we have had to look at how we can do this,” Williams said. “We’re switching it up, and we’re going to go this route this year.”

The decision may not be final, although early notice was important because of the many agencies and logistics involved, Williams said.

If this is the end of the parade, it will be another loss of a tradition with roots in what many consider the city’s heyday.

Ray Rucker Jr., a retired San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy, says he remembers his father — who eventually became chief of police — starting the “parade” in humble but instantly memorable fashion in the 1950s.

“I think Dad had a ’47 International Harvester half-ton pickup truck, and that was it — there wasn’t a float or anything,” Rucker said. “You remember the faces and little kids. ... It made them really love the policemen because the policemen were there helping Santa Claus out. You’d see their eyes all bright and shiny. Some of them would run out barefoot to see (the officers and Santa).”

More and more officers, and later the Fire Department and agencies from outside the city, became involved in handing out candy canes — or apples, bubble gum, candy and peanuts in earlier years — and traveling varying routes over three days the week before Christmas.

“The reason there’s no designed type parade route is the way it originally started,” Rucker said. “They would go out days in advance and just cruise the whole city, and they would look to see where the crowds of children were, and that’s where they would go.”

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That lack of a designated route is part of the problem, Williams said — because it’s not a defined parade route, participants are required to comply with the Vehicle Code, which requires seat belts, which many of the floats don’t have.

The police officials who made the decision weren’t available Friday, but they may not have known how many defenders the parade had.

Among them is Wendy McCammack, who as a councilwoman last year spearheaded an effort to raise more than $1,000 to pay the city’s share of costs associated with the parade, such as gas and wear-and-tear on vehicles. The police and firefighters who participate have always volunteered their time.

That effort came about immediately after the event, in response to criticism that shortly after filing for bankruptcy — and as it fought in court to protect that status — the city shouldn’t be spending money on such luxuries as a parade.

Now recalled from her council seat but in a runoff race for mayor, McCammack said she’s equally committed.

“I have contacted those in charge of those particular issue and have asked them to give me cost estimates, and I am attempting in advance of getting those cost estimates to do exactly what we did last year, which was gather the community support to fund that activity,” she said. “I am also going to find out if there is a way to rectify the safety concern, but I can tell you that Santa Claus and I are close friends, and if there’s any miracle at Christmas in San Bernardino, it will be to put this activity back on the schedule.”

McCammack said she expected people to interpret the drive as an election-related ploy, but she wouldn’t stop doing good things because she’s on the ballot.

That sounds like the right approach, said her opponent for mayor, Carey Davis.

“I think I would probably concur with Wendy’s efforts to help it to materialize,” he said. “That would probably help the community not to feel like we’ve given up everything...”

The loss of the Route 66 Rendezvous, he said, “was a real disappointment to a lot of our community.”

Scott Beard, one of Davis’ main supporters and funders behind McCammack’s recall, said he also had called to see how he could help financially or otherwise.

“I have seen it more than a few times with my children and grandchildren,” Beard said about the parade, “and we think it’s a great thing. I’m a little surprised because honestly this is one of the few things that police and fire can do that’s clearly positive. It’s one of those things where I think everyone is in agreement this should be here, and I think we’re doing whatever we can to make that happen.”

The Court Street event — which McCammack said may as well also go on, even if the Ho Ho Parade returns — will still feature the chance to meet Santa and see city vehicles adorned with Christmas lights.

“We tried to pick a central location in the city that had a lot of room,” Williams said, “so everybody who wants to be there can get there.”

The event will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 18 and 19 at Court and E streets.